The Lioness and Her Cub
by peace love and books
Summary: Logan rescues two children from Sabertooth and brings them back to the institution. Nina and Toby who are both runaway HYRDA experiments must learn to trust the X-Men and live like normal humans if they hope to survive in a world they know nothing about. Lance/OC Kitty/Kurt
1. We're Not Going Back

"Nina, look I caught a fish!"

A tall, slender woman walked out from her tent and smiled as she saw her cub run back to base with a tiny fish in his hands.

"I caught it Nina, I caught it all by myself!"

Nina laughed as she strutted over to the small boy. She bent down so they were both eye leveled with each other and smiled as she messed with his long strawberry colored hair. She took the fish from him and smiled.

"Good job Toby, we will eat good tonight!"

Toby smiled proudly as he watched Nina walk over to the fire pit. He then ran over to the other end of base and grabbed a handful of fire wood as he watched the woman begin skinning their dinner. Nina looked up and smiled as she watched the tiny cub carry a couple of branches over to the empty pit. Toby, her cub was a very tiny creature in her eyes, so fragile he looked. His face was heart-shaped and his skin was white as a dandelion. His face had tiny red freckles which covered the boy from head to toe. Toby's lips and nose were as tiny as Nina thought they could be and his eyes, oh his eyes were Nina's favorite thing about him. They were so big, so bright, so childlike, but they had lost one thing, his innocence. She looked down at the fish she was skinning and chuckled to herself. The fish was so small she'd be surprised if it could even fill the boy tonight, but she wouldn't say anything to him. The way he ran up to her, so proud of himself, she wouldn't dare destroy that.

Nina watched as Toby ate his half of their dinner. Every movement he made was so carefree and joyful, but she knew deep down that he was watching their surroundings just as close and careful as she was. That's when she smelled it, it was a musk and wild smell, a man.

"Cub," She whispered.

"Nina?" Toby put his food down and slowly walked over to her.

"In the tree now Cub."

She sniffed the air again and narrowed her eyes in the direction of the intruder.

"But Nina…"

"Cub now!"

"But…"

"NOW!"

Nina turned to throw him in the tree, but she was too late.

"Well, well, well look what I found here dinner and dessert."

Toby looked behind Nina to see a man standing at the far end of their base. His hair was long yellow and wild; his face was cold, fierce and hungry. Toby covered his face as the man brought his sharp nails up to his lips and licked them hungrily. The young boy always thought Nina looked wild, but he was wrong Nina looked nothing like this man. This man was the wild one not Nina.

He watched as Nina's body tensed up.

"Leave now!" she growled at him.

The man laughed at her and walked closer to them.

"And miss an easy meal like this? I don't think so girl."

Toby screamed and ran over to the tree behind them as he watched the woman growl and transform into a strong, protective lioness.

Toby started to cry as the man laughed and ran over to her slamming her into to ground. He watched as Nina jumped up clawing the man across the face. The man cried out in pain as he grabbed her by the throat and threw her against a far tree. The lioness stood back on all fours as she ran towards the monster trying to get another hit at him, but the monster grabbed her again and picked her up by the neck and jabbed his hand in her stomach. Toby cried and ran out from behind the tree as he watched the creature rip his bloody hand from her and throw her on the ground.

"Nina!" Toby ran over to her and threw his arms in front of her.

"Leave her alone!"

The monster laughed as he stalked over to Toby. Toby closed his eyes and started to think about scary things when he heard a cry.

"Sabretooth!"

He opened his eyes to see that another man had come out and stabbed the monster from behind. Toby turned around and hid behind Nina. He looked up to see a new man, he had metal that came out of his hands and he was faster than the creature. Toby put his face in Nina's fur. He didn't want to be here anymore he wanted Nina to wake up and take the away so that they were safe again. He started to cry as he tried to wake up his lioness.

"Please Nina wake up. Please Nina!"

Toby's cries softened as he felt Nina start to come back to him. He looked at her as she started to stand back on her feet.

"Hey kid."

Toby looked up to see that the monster was gone and now just stood the second man, the one with the metal in his hands.

"Stop, don't hurt her!"

The man put his hands up, "Hey I'm not going to hurt you kid."

Toby looked at Nina as she was about to attack him, but instead she fell back on the ground and transformed back into her human self.

"Nina!" Toby cried as he ran in front of her and threw his hands up block the man from coming any closer, "We're not going back!"

The man put his hands down and bent down to Toby's height, "I'm not going to hurt you kid, but if you want that girl to live you're going to need to let me help you."

Toby started to feel tears come out of his eyes as he sat down next to Nina's unconscious body. He put his face in Nina's long nappy red hair and looked back up at the man.

"Fine, help her."

He watched as the man pulled a phone from his pocket and called someone telling them to bring the jet now. He watched carefully as the man sat across from him. Toby looked back at Nina and put her head in his lap playing with the tiny freckles on her face, they were like his just not all over his body. Her skin was white like his, but unlike his there were a lot of scars all over her, Toby called them battle scars and always told her how cool they looked on her.

"Name's Logan kid. What's yours?"

Toby looked over at the man, Logan, he hadn't moved since he sat down.

"Toby." He whispered.

Logan nodded his head, "How old are ya Toby?"

"I'm 10."

"Who's the girl?"

Toby looked down at her and moved her hair out of her face.

"She's my sister Nina."

"How old is Nina?"

"I don't know." Toby whispered.

Toby and Logan started to make small talk. He asked Toby his favorite colors, food, games some of which Toby answered and some he didn't. Toby watched as Logan carefully walked over to him and Nina.

"I'm going to try to put pressure on some of her wounds kid, so that she stops bleeding as much."

Toby watched carefully as he saw Logan rip apart his shirt and start wrapping it around Nina's wounds.

"Why were you even in the woods kid?"

"We live here. It's the only place Nina can protect me."

"This Nina, she's a Mutant right?"

"Yeah."

"Are you one too kid?"

"Yeah."

"Well you've seen mine. I have metal claws that come out of my knuckles. I'm guessing she can turn into a lion. What can you do kid?"

Toby looked back down at Nina, "I can make people see things."

"What kinda things kid?"

Toby closed his eyes and looked back at Nina, "Scary things."

Not soon after that a giant jet landed next to them and four people walked out. Toby watched as a red head women and a tall man carefully picked up Nina and took her into the jet.

"Come on kid well help ya now."

As Toby followed Logan into the jet he saw a dark woman with white hair at the controls and another women sitting next to her with short auburn hair with white streaks as bangs in the front of her hair. Toby didn't say a word as he sat down next to Logan as they flew off.


	2. Life Is A Nightmare

It's been five days now since Nina and Toby were welcomed to institution and Nina still had not woken up. While Toby waited for her to recover Bobby and Sam let him stay with them. The three boys instantly hit it off together. Toby for the first time since he was locked away made real friends and slowly started to remember what it was like not having to watch your back constantly. Every morning while Bobby and Sam were doing their 5 a.m. training, Toby would walk down to the medic and sit next to Nina until breakfast was ready. He'd go upstairs and hang out with the kids and then after everyone left to go to school, Toby would then walk back down stairs and sit and wait for Nina to hopefully wake up. While Toby was with Nina he would do things with her like, braid her hair, read small books to her, or simply just sit and wait. By the fifth day after Toby walked down stairs to sit next to Nina the small boy sat next to her and started braiding her hair. When he got half way through Professor Xavier, Miss Storm, Doctor Hank, and Mr. Logan walked in. The professor rolled up to Toby as Hank started examining Nina's condition. Storm smiled at the young boy and pulled up a chair next to him while Logan stood by the door. Storm looked down at the sleeping red head girl and ran her fingers over the braids that Toby had put in her hair.

"Where did you learn how to braid so beautifully child?"

Toby blushed as he started another braid in his sister's hair, "Nina taught me."

Charles Xavier looked up at Toby as he continued to braid the lovely girl's hair, "Toby if you don't mind me asking what were you and Nina doing in the woods?"

When Toby and Nina arrived five days ago the professor decided to wait a while before corning him with questions. Because Toby was so young he had hoped to get some answers out of the older girl, but seeing as he didn't know when she'd wake up he figured that Toby should answer some questions. The younger child had really opened up since he had arrived five days ago. Five days ago the young boy didn't talk to anyone but Logan. He was very worried about the older girl, Nina, to the point Logan had to drag him to his room when he found him next to Nina's bed around 4 in the morning. Xavier watched as he started opening up to Bobby and Sam, who had generously opened their room to him. Kitty had also taken a liking to the young boy along with Jamie who was just happy that he wasn't the youngest anymore.

"Nina said we'd be safe there. She said the Lab-Coats won't be able to find us there." Toby answered not really looking at anyone as he continued to braid Nina's hair.

"Who are the "Lab-Coats" Toby?"

Toby stopped braiding Nina's hair and looked down at his hands that were now in his lap, "The people that hurt us." He whispered.

Storm looked at the small, quite boy and wrapped her arm around him, "Why would people hurt you child?"

"Nina said it's because they're jealous of us and they want what we have."

"And what do you have?" Storm asked.

"Power." He answered back,

"Nina said they hurt us because of our powers."

Hank finished examining the resting girl and stood next to the professor, "What can she do?" "Nina's a cat." Toby answered.

"A cat?"

"Yeah Nina, she can turn into all kinds of cats, big cat, small cats that's her power."

"And you Toby what can you do?" Hank asked him.

"Me," he looked back over at Nina and held her hand for comfort, "I make people see things." The professor looked over at Toby and then put his hand on his shoulder, "What kind of things Toby?"

"Mean and scary things," he said still looking at Nina, "They called me a demon. I made lots of people go crazy when I get upset that's why Nina took us away. One day one of the Labs-Coats took Nina and when she came back I thought she was dead. I got really mad and I stated imaging scary things happening to them and then one of the Lab-Coats cut his throat open and the other one shot himself. A couple days later Nina heard one of the Lab-Coats talking about killing me so when X-23 escaped so did we."

Logan looked up now interested, "You know X-23?"

Toby shook his head, "No, but we heard of her."

"So that means you came from HYDRA." Logan stated.

Toby played with Nina's hair as he looked away, "Yeah."

No one said anything for a while and then Storm took her chair and brought it to the other side of Nina and started braiding her hair, "You and Nina seem very close."

"Yeah, when I entered HYDRA they put me in the same cage as Nina."

"I thought you said she was your sister." Logan said.

"She is. She calls me her cub."

"How old were when you were taken short stuff?"

"Sold," Toby corrected.

"What kid?"

"I was sold to HYDRA."

"Who would sell you? You're just a kid."

"My mother did. She didn't like what I could do so she sold me to HYDRA."

"How old were you kid?"

"8," Answered Toby, "I've been there for two years it looks like."

Storm got up again after she finished braiding her last braid and walked over to Toby and hugged him, "I'm so sorry my child."

"It's okay Miss. Storm. Nina's been there longer and if she could do it I feel like I can't complain."

"No child you have every right to complain, be angry and upset." Storm told him as she rubbed his back.

"Just how long has Nina been there?" The professor asked.

"I don't know sir, but she was 5 when her daddy sold her. She said she remembers because it was the day she finished 1st grade."

Storm ran her fingers through the girl's braids and kissed her head, "She can't be older than 17, poor child."

Toby shook his head at Storm and held Nina's hand tighter, "Don't worry about her Ms. Storm. Nina's strong and she promised she'd always protect me and Nina doesn't break promises."


	3. This Is Home

By day seven Nina finally woke up. As she flickered her bright yellow cat-like eyes opened. She instantly jumped off of the white medical bed and onto the cold white floor. As she looked around she stared to freak out, she was in the lab again, but at the same time she wasn't. Her hair was messily braided and she wore a pair of gray sweat pants and a black oversized T-shirt. The last thing she remembered was protecting Toby from a monster before another man interfered and that was it. Nina looked around the room and realized that Toby was nowhere to be seen, but she still smelled him. Had someone taken him? Where was he? Nina stared to freak out as she threw the bed against the wall and knocked all of the medical equipment on the floor. "Hey kid! Stop! What are you doing?!"

Nina turned around to see the same man that had interfered with her fight against the beast and ran up to him shoving him against the now broken wall.

"Where's my cub!"

Logan took a deep breath before taking the young girls hands off of him, "Toby's upstairs killer. I'll take you to him, but only if you stop trashing the place."

Nina froze for a minute and ripped her hands away from the man, "He better be okay!"

"Don't worry killer he's fine. Name's Logan by the way. Kid said your name's Nina?"

Nina nodded her head. What else had Toby told them?

"Good now come with me."

Nina followed Logan upstairs and noticed just how big the place was but realized that no one was there. She then followed the man outside to what looked to be a large pound. Nina looked around and saw a bunch of kids running around and jumping in and out of the water then she saw him, Toby, wearing plain blue shorts with no shirt on jumping into the water. She watched as he jumped in the air and while he was in midair a bright blue beam made of ice shot from under him, caching Toby. Nina watched as the young boy slid down the ice and into the pool.

"Hey short stuff!" Logan yelled.

Toby looked up and smiled as he saw Nina alive and awake standing next to Mr. Logan.

"Nina!" Toby shouted as he jumped out of the pool and ran over to her. Everyone stopped doing what they were doing and watch Toby great the mysterious Nina they had all hear Toby brag about.

Nina bent down and hugged her wet cub as hard as she could. She kissed the top of his head and rubbed his back, "I love you so much Cub."

"I love you too Nina you're okay right?"

"As good as new kid."

She looked over Toby's shoulder and watched and a tall beautiful dark skinned women push a sophisticated bald man towards them.

"I'm glad to see that you're finally awake Ms. Nina. My name is Charles Xavier and this is Storm or Ororo I see you've met Logan. This is my school I'm glad you are feeling and looking better dear."

Nina stood up and shook the man's hand, "Thank you, for helping me and Toby."

Toby hugged Nina around her waist. She looked down at Toby and scuffed his wet blonde hair, "Okay let's go Tobs."

Toby looked up at Nina, "Go?"

"Yes we've stayed too long."

"He can't leave!" Nina looked up to see the brown haired boy that was making the ice slides. "Bobby stop!" a red headed woman yelled at him.

"Why do you want to leave dear?" Ororo asked her.

"We've stayed here long enough." Nina answered bluntly.

"You are welcome to stay here my child, you and Toby both." She told Nina as she opened her arms to her.

"I don't know me and my cub…"

"I don't want to go Nina!" Toby screamed as he grabbed her left arm.

"Kid." She growled at him.

"No Nina! I want to stay here and be normal!"

"You aren't normal Toby!"

"No, but we could be Nina! I don't want to live in the woods anymore I want to say here! These kids they get to go to school and play with other kids and work with their powers. The professor, he said he'd even teach me how to use my powers so that I can make people see more than scary things and I've made friends, Bobby and Sam are my roommates and Jamie's pretty cool too! We play games and stuff I know how to play baseball! I've always wanted to play baseball Nina! I like it here Nina I really do!"

Nina bent down and put her hands on the tired boy's shoulders, "Is this what you want Cub?"

"Yes Nina it is." Toby looked up at her with his big blue eye, that's when she saw it, determination.

She looked over at Ororo and the professor, "You will help him with his powers?"

Xavier nodded to her, "Of course, that's what we do here. That's what all these kids are here for, to learn how to control their powers and Toby here has made a lot of friends. We've all been looking out for him while you've been recovering."

She looked up as saw all of the students looking at them. This was Nina's call and everyone knew it and if she said no Toby would leave with her without another word. Toby held her hand and looked up at her with his big blue eyes. She looked at the students, the professors and then back at Toby.

"Okay," she whispered, "we will stay."

Everyone cheered and Toby jumped in the air hugged her, "Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome kid."

She watched Toby jump back in to pool satisfied with everything she turned around and walked back inside.

"Wait! Like where are you going?"

Nina looked back and saw a petite girl run up to her.

"Hi, like I'm Kitty."

"Hello," Nina replied as she shook Kitty's hand.

"Why don't you like stay outside and swim with us."

Nina shook her head, "That's okay I'm gonna go take a cat nap."

Kitty scratched the back of her head as her face dropped, "Oh okay, well like see you later."


	4. She's Not Weak

**Thank you so much to everyone that has reviewed, favored, and followed!**

"Hey, Nina wake up! You'll be like late you know."

Nina opened her eyes to see Kitty and Rouge changing from their night attires to their day clothes. It had been two weeks now since Toby and she were saved by Logan and a week since Nina had woken up and the professor had finally convinced her and Toby to attend school. Well there wasn't really any convince needed for Toby, but Nina on the other hand well that was a whole different story. She wasn't a people person to begin with. Even being at the mansion she was hardly in her human form, normally she would just play house cat all day and sleep. She barely just started getting use to her roommates Kitty and Rouge, she talked to Logan sometime and of course Toby, but that was it. So asking her to be around a bunch of people for eight hours a day, five days a week was really out of the question. But Toby had seemed to accept the challenge, he kept telling her that school would be good for them and that this was a start to being normal again. So here she was walking down stairs to the kitchen at 7:15 a.m. She wore khaki jeans with a white long sleeve button up shirt with a black vest over it and black Toms shoes. Her red hair was French braided down then back and she wore no makeup. When she was in the lab they wore little to no clothes so she tended to wear many layers because she found that being fully covered made her feel safe.

"Morning Nina!" As Nina stepped into the kitchen Toby ran up hugged her around her waist.

Nina smiled as saw that Toby was already to go; He wore blue jean shorts with a white and blue striped shirt and black sneakers. His hair was brushed down nicely and he was wearing his red back pack over both his shoulders.

"Morning Cub, I see you're ready to go."

Toby smiled and nodded his head, "Yep Jean and Scott said they would drop me off cause their college is right down the road from my school."

Nina kissed the top of his head as she played with his hair, "Okay, Have a good day now Tobs. See you later."

"Bye Nina!"

She watched as Toby jumped in Scott's sports car sitting behind him and Jean.

"Hey Nina it's like time to go!"

Nina grabbed her black back pack from the coat closet and got in the car with Kitty, Kurt, Rouge and Evan.

As soon as they got to the school Rouge and Evan went their different ways leaving Kitty and Kurt to take care of Nina. Nina looked around and noticed that there was a lot more people here than she planned for. There were kids everywhere short ones, tall ones, pale ones, dark ones, lean ones, hefty ones, they were all here. This made her even more nervous, she didn't know what to do any more. It looked so overwhelming that she walked back into Rouge's car and curled up in the fetal position.

"Nina, what is the matter?"

Kurt opened the door and looked sadly at the scared girl in the corner of the car.

"I want to go back."

Kitty shook her head and turned to Kurt, "Hey like I'll take care of her, you go to class okay? I'll meet you there."

Kurt nodded his head and kissed her on the lips before making his way to the school.

Kitty then got in the car and sat next to Nina. She didn't say anything for a while. She didn't know what to say.

"It's not that bad you know."

Nina lifted her head up and looked at Kitty, "I mean yeah it's your first day and all, but like first days are always supposed to suck. I mean that's what makes them like a first day."

Nina brought her legs down now sitting upright, "I hate this Kitty."

Kitty frowned and looked over at Nina, "What do you mean?"

Nina got frustrated and threw her face into her hands and screamed, "AHH! This feeling I hate this! Why do I feel so weak?!"

Kitty shook her head and took Nina's hands and held them.

"You're not weak Nina," Kitty whispered.

"Then why am I feeling like this?"

Kitty continued to hold her hands, "Why do you think?"

Nina look up at Kitty, "I think… I think I'm scared Kitty."

Kitty smiled and put her hand on Nina's knee, "I know like trust me we all were when we went to school for the first time. It's like scary out there you never know what you're gonna like walk into and you always meet a jerk on your first day like no lie, but you have friends here too. Me, Kurt, Evan, Rouge, Bobby, Sam, and everyone else, we're all here and we'll protect each other. So like don't worry if anything happens we'll hear about it and like help you, okay? That's what friends are for."

Nina nodded her head.

Is this what Toby was talking about, having friends? That's what Kitty said they were.

"You're my friend?"

Kitty looked at her in shock, "Well like yeah of course we are friends why wouldn't we be?"

"I don't understand Kitty what does that mean?"

"What is what mean?"

"Friends? What, what are those. I don't understand."

Kitty looked at Nina in shock and played with her hands as she looked down her lap, "Well it's like you and Toby, you guys are friends."

Nina shook her head, "No Kitty. Me and Toby, we're family. We're all we have left."

Kitty laughed, "Okay well like think of friend as like someone who has your back. Someone that will like always protect you, and will stay by your side. Someone who makes you laugh and sometimes makes you angry. A person you can like turn to when you needed to talk to somebody. A friend shares their food and will like eat ice cream and watch movies with you all day. Someone who's patient with you and encourages you to try new things. Someone you can goof off with and get in trouble with. Study with and like do nothing with. That's what friends like do!"

Nina smiled and looked up at Kitty, "That sounds more like me and Toby. Like a family."

Kitty giggled, "Well sometimes your friends are your family."

Nina smiled, "Kitty I think you're my friend."

Kitty laughed and hugged Nina, "Like I hope so, cause you're my friend!"

"I think I'm ready to try again Kitty."

Kitty smiled as she pulled Nina into a hug and dragged her out of the car, "Okay then let's go!"


	5. Friends Or Foes

**Thanks again to everyone that has reviewed, favored, and or followed! I'm excited to see where we take Nina and Toby!**

Kitty informed Nina everything that she needed to know about school; that she was classified as a junior like her, Kurt, Rouge and Evan, how to open her locker, that no matter what day it was the cafeteria food was going to suck and most importantly the Status Quo.

"Okay so you like have your, Freshmen, ROTC Guys, Preps, J.V. Jocks, Asian Nerds, Cool Asians, Varsity Jocks, Unfriendly Black Hotties, Girls Who Eat Their Feelings, Girls Who Don't Eat Anything, Desperate Wannabes, Burnouts, and Sexually Active Band Geeks."

"So what does that make you, Kurt and everyone else?" Nina asked as she walked down the hallway watching Kitty point out all the cliques.

"The like, Greatest People You Will Ever Meet," Kitty told her as she laughed.

"Then who are they?" Nina asked as she pointed over to Lance, Pietro, Wanda, Fred and Todd.

Kitty stopped laughing, "The Brotherhood, like The Worst People You Will Ever Meet."

"Come on I'll like show you to your first class," Kitty tried to pull Nina around before Lance and his crew saw her, but it was too late Lance and his gang were already making their way over to them.

"Hey Kitty, so who the new kid?" Lance asked as he walked over to Nina shaking her hand.

"I'm Nina." Nina pulled her hand out of Lance's hand and placed it in her pocket. If Kitty didn't like this group then why should she.

"Nice to meet you Nina, the name's Lance. This is Fred, Toad, Pietro, and Wanda," Lance told her as he smiled at her.

Nina looked over at them and smiled back at him.

"Yeah like I already informed her Lance," Kitty said as she pulled Nina closer to her.

"What's wrong Kitten 'fraid we're gonna steal this one from your little X-Club?" Pietro told her as he stepped closer to Nina.

"Name's Pietro, don't listen to anything Kitten here tells you about us. We're actually really nice people," Pietro then turned around and looked at Wanda who was leaning against the lockers glaring at them, "Well most of us anyways."

Kitty pushed Pietro away and grabbed Nina's arm pulling her closer to her, "Like leave her alone. I'm lucky that I even got her in the school so I'll like be pissed if you guys like scare her away."

Todd jumped over towards them and laughed, "Ohh… Kitty's got claws, yo!"

"Ugh! Like whatever! Come one Nina let's go!"

Kitty grabbed Nina and they left the Brotherhood laughing in the corner.

While Nina was getting used to being around all these people, the classes started to annoy her. She only finished the first grade with her father sold her to HYDRA so she barely knew how to read and even write her own name and God only knows how old she is now. In HYDRA they didn't teach her anything as long as she could say "yes", "no", "hurts", and "fine" she was good to go. She managed to stay out of harm's way by just sitting in the back of the class room and not saying anything. Nina thought it was best not to tell anyone about it though because she thought that they would pull her out of school and deep down she kind of liked it and Toby thought it would be good for her. She liked to people watch while sitting in the back of the room. She thought it was amusing, watching how teenagers interacted in a school environment. She couldn't help but wonder what type of person she would have been if she was never sold.

"Hey you're sitting in my seat." Nina looked up to see Lance standing over her while Todd and Fred sat beside her. She was in a class called English III and sat in the back of the class like she did with all her many of her other classes. Nina then looked for another seat but found that there was only one left and it was up in the front next to a "Burnout" as Kitty called them.

"Please don't make me move," Nina helplessly whispered, "I don't have this class with Kitty or anyone and I don't want to sit in the front and be called on. I promise tomorrow I won't sit here."

Lance looked down at the helpless girl and rubbed his hand across his face, "Sure whatever. Toad move go sit in the front."

Toad turned around, "What man, but I don't want to sit by Blowout Joe, yo. Man's so high that I'll probably be high by the end of class!"

"Just do it!"

"Man whatever. New chick's already got me doing things." Toad mumble has hopped to the front of the class.

"I'm sorry," Nina whispered as Lance sat next to her.

"Don't worry about it."

"Yeah don't worry about it Toad was stinking up the back anyways," Fred laughed as he looked over at Nina.

"I'm Fred by the way."

Nina smiled as she shook his hand, "I'm Nina."

"Yeah you're that new girl that lives with the X-Geeks right?"

"X-Geeks? I thought they called themselves the X-Men."

Lance laughed, "They are but we like to call them geeks instead."

"Why?"

"Because we don't like them."

"Why not?"

"It's a long story kid. I'll let Kitty tell you." Lance told as he leaned back in his chair propping his legs on the table.

"Why'd you want to sit in the back anyways, usually all you X-Kids sit up in the front."

Nina looked down at her empty piece of paper, the teacher had been talking for about ten minutes now and she still hadn't wrote anything down yet, "Well I'm new to this school thing and I don't want to sit in the front because I realized that the teacher calls on you more when you're in the front."

Fred laughed, "You got that right. That's why we always sit in the back. How are you new to school anyway if you're a junior?"

"Where I came from I didn't go to school. My brother convinced me to go, saying that it's what normal kids do."

"Is your brother a Mutant too?" Fred asked.

"Yeah he's young though only 10."

"Wow that is young. Most Mutants don't get their powers till they're teens."

"Yeah I know that's why he wanted to go to school real bad because he wanted to be normal."

"But you're not normal you're a Mutant and Mutant's aren't normal," Lance told her.

"I know and I keep trying to tell Toby that but he just tells me that we can be normal."

"Well if you ever need any help around here let us know."

"Why would you help me? I thought you didn't like the X-Men."

Lance scoffed, "A Mutant's a Mutant and we gotta stick together. I may not like the X-Geeks, but whatever. Like I said if you ever need help with anything you just let one of us know we'll help you don't worry Nina."

Nina smiled and wondered why Kitty warned her about them. They seemed pretty nice and she was making new friends that she met from school, Toby would be proud of her, "Thank Lance and you too Fred."


	6. He's Only A Kid

"Ahh!"

Nina shot up from her bed and looked around franticly, Toby was in trouble. She jumped out of her bed and ran out of her room wearing nothing but a pair of sweat pants and a sports bra. Nina ran to the other side of the mansion to see everyone standing outside of the room Toby slept in. She pushed her way past the random kids blocking her way as she saw Logan, Scott, Jean, Ororo, and the Professor standing next to Toby's bed. Nina pushed past Scott as she heard Toby's frantic whimpers. She jumped on his bed ignoring Jean and Ororo's orders for her to stay back. Nina grabbed Toby and threw him in her arms, cradling him as he grabbed her bra and cried in her chest. She leaned against his head board letting his leg rest on top of hers as she rubbed his back giving him soft kisses on his head and cheeks. She wiped the tears from he's cheeks and held him close against her chest. She hears Logan telling the other kids to leave, but she still rocked Toby back and forth not taking her eyes off her frightened cub.

"You're safe now Cub everything's alright," Nina whispered softy in his tiny ears.

"I had a nightmare Sister," Toby cried "The Lab-Coats took you! They were mad at you for taking me away and then they killed you! They killed right in front of me and then they laughed and laughed." Toby cried as snot ran down Nina's chest.

Nina pushed the boy closer to her chest and hind her face in the boy's soft, blonde, sweaty hair, "No one is ever going to take us Toby," She whispered as she kissed his head, "We are safe now I promise my cub and if anyone dared tried to take me I promise you they could not kill me for I would kill them first."

She rocked Toby back and forth and she heard his cries quite down. She sometimes forgets just how fragile the tiny boy in her arms was. She forgot that he's only 10 and that he is still a small child, a child that needs love and affection, a child who still is able to act his small age. Nina forgot what that was like a long time ago, she was forced to grow up fast, never having the ability to act carefree or innocent, but that doesn't mean Toby should also. That's why she took him, so that he would live the life she was never able to live, that's why they were here, so he could go to school and make friends and just be a kid. Nina sometimes forgets that that's all Toby is…a kid.

"Sleep well my cub, sleep well tonight,

I'll keep away the dreams from hell,

I'll keep away the demons from you,

Don't fear the blackness around you,

Don't fear the Lab Coats at night,

Don't ask yourself about death,

Don't ask me of my fights,

As long as you will sleep,

I will protect you from all that you fear,

Sleep well my cub, sleep well."

"Does this happen often to him dear?"

Nina looked up to see only Ororo and the Professor left in the room, along with Sam and Bobby who were laying in their beds watching Nina rock Toby.

"No, the last time he screamed this loud was a couple of days after I met him. After that night he has not had a nightmare as bad as this."

She looked down at her cub and smiled as she saw that his little blue eyes were shut, "I will stay here tonight."

"I don't think that's…" Professor Xavier tried to inform her that would be unnecessary, but as soon as he opened his mouth to protective young girl turned into a brown tabby house cat and curled up against the boy.

Xavier simply smiled, "Well good night Nina. Good night boys," He said looking over at Sam and Bobby, "Try to get some sleep now."


	7. The King And The Knight Part 1

_Sorry it's been awhile I had to get midterms out of the way I hope y'all enjoy this chapter. Part 2 will be up later this week!_

"What is this," Nina asked as she looked down on her bed and saw a navy blue jump suit.

"Oh cool Nina you finally got a uniform!" Toby yelled with excitement.

"A what?" Nina asked as she picked up the uniform and sized it up to her body.

"An X-men uniform! Oh that's so cool Nina I can't wait till Professor X lets me join! Jamie's only 13 so I have like 3 more years!"

Toby started to jump on Nina's bed as he looked over he saw Nina throw the uniform in her closet.

"Hey what are you doing? You didn't even try it on! How do you know if it fits?"

Nina closed her closet door and walked over to her desk, "I don't care if it fits or not, I don't want it."

Toby stopped jumping on the bed and sat down, "What do you mean Nina? How could you not want it?"

Nina sat down at her desk and pulled out her school books from her bag, "The only reason why we're here is so you can learn to control your powers, not me. I already know how my powers work and how to control them. Xavier told me that he could teach you how to control your powers. Is he even doing that Toby?"

Nina threw her books on her desk and turned around, "Are you even learning anything here!"

Toby looked away from Nina, "He told me we'd start after I got adjusted here."

"It's been two months how much longer do you need! You've already adjusted! You have friends, you go to school it's time you learn how to control your mind! We could have worked something out by now! God it's like he doesn't even care!"

Toby jumped off the bed and looked up at Nina, "He does!"

Nina sat in her chair with her arms crossed looking at Toby, "Oh really! Then why am I the one getting a uniform and not you? Why are we even still here!"

Nina turned back around to her desk and opened her book.

"Because he said I'm not ready yet!"

"How are you not ready? What is he waiting for you to kill someone again!"

Nina realized what she had said and look back at Toby and ran over to him, "Cub that's not what I…"

"SHUT UP I DIDN'T MEAN IT!"

Toby pushed Nina away and ran to the other end of the room. Nina looked over at the boy and realized it was not her Toby anymore. He no longer looked like the innocent carefree child that had been jumping on the bed only minutes ago. No he was different now. Toby's fist were clenched and his skin was pale, but worst of all his eye where no longer the bright childlike blue eyes they once were, they were now cold and soiled black.

Nina slowly lifted her hand and walked over to Toby. She hunched down to his level and tried to be as slow and careful as possible.

"Cub, it's me, it's Nina."

Toby continued to shake as if he couldn't even hear her.

"Toby, Toby can you hear me?"

As Nina got closer to him she bent down on her knees and looked up at Toby.

"It's okay Cub you can control this, just breath. Sam told me you guys played Mutant Baseball the other day and you got Spyke out. That must have been pretty cool."

She waited for Toby to show any acknowledgment that he was conscious, but there was no life in his demonic eyes.

"You know you were right about school. It's really not that bad, you know think I might even like it. My favorite class is English because Lance and his friends keep me entertained. They're pretty funny I'll have to bring you around them sometime."

Nina smiled as she saw Toby's fist loosen up. She went to touch his hand when all the sudden Nina heard the door slam open.

"No like do your own homework Evan!"

"But Kitty I…Dude what the hell's wrong with him!"

Nina tried to free Toby from his mind by she was too late. Toby's fist clenched up again as Nina fell down to the ground screaming in pain as she pulled at her hair.

"OH MY GOD EVAN GET SOMEONE!"

Evan ran out of the room as Kitty ran over to Nina. Kitty tried to pull Nina into her, but Nina was too powerful for Kitty. Nina looked as if she was have a seizure. Her hands were on her head as if she was trying to push the pain out while Nina's body violently trembled on the floor.

"STOP! MAKE IT STOP!" Nina bawled as she pulled at her hair.

Kitty looked over at Toby in shock, "Are you doing this Toby?"

Kitty had never seen anything so frightening, the once playful child she knew was no longer there, but instead was a demon. Kitty slowly sauntered over to Toby and looked him over once more. His body was sweaty and pale, his hair was no longer neatly brushed but winded across his face.

"NO! I'M SORRY PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!"

Kitty looked back down at Nina who was in so much pain now. Nina was now on her side bent backwards so that her feet were touching her head. Kitty went over to help the screaming girl but as soon as Kitty touched Nina, Nina pugnaciously threw her body on her back arching herself up. Kitty pulled her body back away from her friend afraid to hurt her anymore and looked painfully back at Toby.

"Toby you need to stop this you're hurting her! Toby can't you hear me you're hurting Nina!"

"He can't hear you Kitty he's not in control anymore."

Kitty looked over to see Professor Xavier, Logan, Storm and Evan standing at the doorway.

"What are we supposed to do then Professor he's hurting her!"

"STOP IT PLEASE IT HURTS! OH GOD I'LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN!"

Professor Xavier rolled himself over to Toby as he looked down at Kitty, "I know my dear. That's why it pains me to have to say this, but there's nothing we can do but simply wait and hope he can regains his control."

Logan pushed his way past Evan and Storm and marched into the room, "What are you talking about Chuck! The girl's having a seizure and you're telling me that you can't do anything! Get into that kid's head and stop him!"

Logan dropped down and forcibly wrapped the girl in his arms. He could already tell she had at least a few fractures, if not broken bones. Her body was hot and sweaty, purple coloring was already forming on her wrist and legs.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Logan tightened his arms around her as she began punching and throwing herself at him, "shh… it's okay Killer I got you."

"It's not as simple as it sounds Logan. If I were to just throw myself into his mind without warning the demon in control will fight me out and possibly kill Nina. The reason why I haven't been teaching Toby how to use his powers his because Toby is still a young child. Most Mutants get their powers during their adolescent period, but something triggered Toby's powers too early. He is not mentally or physically ready to control his powers yet and sadly I missed judged him and believed that time would be the key to his control."

"But what do we do now Charles?" Ororo asked.

"Like I said before Strom, we wait, we wait and hope that Toby regains control before Nina kills herself."

"She could die!" Evan questioned as he sat next to Logan and Kitty as he tried to help his friend.

"Toby's powers deal with the mind more specifically his powers damage the mind. His mind finds traumatizing life events that have been sealed away inside someone's brain and brings them back to life. One might even say that he makes you live your own fears."

"FELIX PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!"

Logan struggled as he held on to the girl. Blood started to drip onto the ground, but nobody knew if it was his or Nina's.


	8. The King And The Knight Part 2

**Thanks Molly Grace 16 for reviewing this next chapter is dedicated to you! -PLB**

_Inside Toby's head_

Toby looked around and realized that he was no longer in Nina's room, but in some new, different world. He was standing outside on a building, but noticed there was nothing but buildings. There was no sun but it was midday, the clouds moved, but there was no wind, and the buildings were like giant sky scrapers. They were coming from every direction you could see where they end, but never where they started.

"Hello?"

Toby looked around.

"Where am I? Hello is anyone here!"

But no one answered.

"I'm all alone," Toby whispered to himself.

Toby walked around, but couldn't find anyone. He jumped from skyscraper to skyscraper until he saw it. A boy standing on a skyscraper gazing up at the sky.

"Hey you!"

The boy ignored Toby so Toby started to run over to the boy.

"Hey you! Can you hear me?"

Toby ran up behind the boy, but as he ran up to the boy he realized there was something wrong. Everything about the boy was completely white, from his body to his clothes. There wasn't an ounce of color on him.

"Of course I hear you." The strange boy whispered.

"Oh then why didn't you answer me?"

"Because I wanted you to find me."

"Well I found you. Will you turn around please?"

"Why?"

"Because I want to see your face."

"But you already know what it looks like."

"I do?"

"Yes."

"How come?"

"Because you look at it every day."

Toby took a step back from the boy, "What do you mean?"

"I mean Toby," the boy turned around, "I'm you."

Toby looked at boy in stock. It was like he was looking in a colorless mirror.

"Why…why are you white?"

The boy smiled, "I'm your inner you Toby. You created me this way."

"I did?"

"Yep along with this world!" The boy exclaimed as he twirled around with his arms out.

"This world?" Toby looked around at his skyscraper kingdom, "I created this?"

"Yep this is your world Toby you are the king here."

"If I'm the king then what does that make you?"

The little white Toby danced around on the skyscraper, "I like to call myself your knight."

"My knight?"

"Yep every king needs a knight to protect the king from the red headed witch!"

"The red headed witch?"

The knight stopped dancing looked around and whispered, "Yes you know the lady you roam the land with?"

Toby laughed, "Oh Nina! She's not a witch she's a princess!"

The knight stared back at his king, "No she's a witch that's why I'm going to kill her!"

Toby stopped laughing, "What do you mean you're going to kill her?"

"You may not realize this yet because you're so young, you know it's been awhile since you were last here, but you see King I'm in control of your body now, and I'm going to kill her."

"What are you talking about how are you going to kill her!"

"With your mind. I will finally kill the red headed witch!"

The king ran up to his knight and grabbed his arm, "No you can't kill her!"

The knight threw his king to the ground, "I must she has upset you once again it's time for her to leave you alone!"

Toby stood back on his feet, "No you don't get it she didn't mean to say that! She was just upset that's all. She wants me to learn how to control power. Nina didn't mean to say what she said!"

The knight pushed Toby back to the ground, "But she still said it! It upset you that's why I took over! I'm your power King, she wants you to get rid of me and I tired of her saying that!"

Toby got back up and tackled his knight onto the ground, "No you leave Nina alone!"

The knight struck Toby in the face, "No I'm finally going to do it I'm finally going to kill her! She's the reason why I'm trapped her because she keeps reminding you to take control! No! I'm tired of being the knight. I'm tired of you getting all of the credit when it's me who gives you the power to kill people. I'm tired of not being noticed! I'm tired of being locked in this world! I want to be out there in the real world I want to be the KING!"

Toby pushed the knight off of him and punched him in the face, "No this is my world I'm the king and you're the knight! You do what I tell you to do and if the knight can't listen then you get thrown in the dungeon!"

Chains started to wrap around the knight as bars started too raised up from the skyscrapers.

"What are you doing to me!"

Toby looked at the knight as he was wrapped around in chains and behind steel bars, "This is my kingdom! I made this world you told me that, well I created a cell for you. Nina is my princess and you hurt her even after I told you to stop. Knights don't hurt princesses and because you broke the law even after I told you to stop you are now in jail, and will stay in here forever!"

The knight laughed as he played with the chains around his body, "Fine have it your way then, but one day you will lose control again and it will be because of the witch and when that day does happen this cell and theses chains will break and when they do I will take control again and next time I will kill her. She is no princess but a witch in disguise!"

Toby glared at his knight and gripped the bars of the cell, "Well then I will make sure that that never happens! I will do whatever it takes to keep you in this cell forever!"

Toby turned around and walked away from the cell as he heard the knight continue to laugh. He gazed up at the sky and closed his eyes as tears fell onto the side of the building.

"I'm so sorry Nina," he whispered.

_Real world_

Everyone became still when Nina stopped screaming. Logan held her tight as she grew motionless in his arms.

"The kid did it," He whispered.

Logan looked up to see Toby start to take back his body. He noticed the peach color start to cover the boy's body and his hands unclutched. Storm ran over to the child when she saw his eyes change back to bright blue. She bent down and hugged Toby as he fell into her arms. Toby started to cough and looked up to see the professor leaning over him. Storm hugged the boy harder as she felt him break down and cry into her arms.

"I'm so sorry Professor I didn't mean for this to happen," Toby cried out.

Xavier placed his hand on Toby's shoulder, "No I am sorry Toby. I promised you and Nina that I would teach you how to control your powers and I have failed. I thought that waiting until you were older was the best decision, but I can now see that it was the worst. None of what happened today is your fault Toby, Nina knows that."

Toby pulled away from Strom and looked over her to see Kitty and Evan sitting around Logan who was holding Nina in his arms. He then pushed away from Ororo and ran over to Logan. Evan stood up and lied Toby down next to Logan. Once Toby sat down he glance over at Logan with tears in his eyes.

"She not dead right?"

The last time Toby had seen her this beat up was when the Lab-Coats took her for her yearly examination right before they ran away. That was the last time he had ever used his powers like he had today. He remembered the Lab-Coats bringing Nina back, naked with cuts and burses all over her. When they threw her in the cell Toby believed Nina was dead. She just lied there not moving, he didn't even know if she was breathing. All he remembered that night was blacking out and when he came back there were two guards on the ground, dead. One shot himself in the head and the other had cut his throat open. That must have been what the knight meant when he said it had been awhile since he was last in charge. But looking at Nina now he didn't feel angry or frustrated, but simply guilty. He had let the knight hurt her just like the Lab-Coats had, and it was all his fault. No matter what the professor had tried to tell him, Toby knew Nina was in pain because he couldn't control his powers. He looked down at Nina and started to cry some more as he saw her body all bruised up with fresh blood coming out of her nose and mouth. The clothes she was wearing were wrinkled, there were even holes in some spots and he could see the small bald spots on her head from her pulling at her hair.

Logan took his left arm from Nina and wrapped it around Toby bringing him in closer, "No kid. Do you honestly think she would go down that easily?"

Toby looked up at Logan and wiped the tears from his eyes, "Good. I…I stopped him. I stopped the knight."

Xavier looked up, "The knight Toby?"

Toby nodded against Logan, "Yes, I was in my mind and there was a boy who looked just like me. He called me the king and said that he was a knight."

"And was the knight the one responsible for hurting Nina?"

"Yes. He called her a witch and said he was going to kill her, but I…I stopped him and I threw him in jail before he could hurt her anymore."

"Good job kid," Logan told Toby as he ruffled his hair.

Toby smiled and looked up at Logan, "She's going to be okay right Mister Logan?"

Toby started to cry again as he held on to Nina's hand.

"Of course she is kid. Your sister's a fighter she just needs a little rest that's all and then she'll be good to go."

"Good," Toby whispered as he wiped the tears from his face.

Toby squeezed Nina's hand and looked back up and Professor Xavier.

"Professor I want to practice my powers. I want to keep Nina safe. She has always kept me safe, it's my turn now. I want to make sure that the knight never breaks out. That he never hurts Nina again."

Xavier nodded his head and wheeled over to Toby, "Of course. You and I will now take private lessons. I still think you're too young to train with the others, but I do believe you're right. It is time that you learn how to control your mind so that something like this never happens again."

Toby nodded and looked back down at his sister. He laid his head on her shoulder and cried out once more.

"I promise Nina I'll get stronger and I'll protect you next time. You're my princess Nina and I'll never let the knight hurt you again."


End file.
